Derek McInnes

“The game served its purpose and thankfully it’s the last game of pre-season.

“Now we can get into the real stuff.

“The game and level of opponent was picked with next week in mind. We wanted as tough a game as possible. We didn’t get it all our own way and you can see individually they’re a good team and it was a test of our concentration and organisation at times.

“We had to make sure that side of the game was spot on for the majority of it and we limited them to very few chances.

“I thought we were a bit tepid in the first 15 minutes and wanted us to be a bit more aggressive with our work. Gradually we grew into the game, scored a very good goal from big Sam, which pleased me, and we countered really well.

“Disappointed with the goal we lose because I think it’s a foul on Mikey Devlin on the touchline.

“Second half, while West Brom had a lot of the ball as you’d expect, we created the better chances and I thought we finished the game strong. Of course, we want to win, but it’s not the most important thing for pre-season it’s just coming through without any injuries which is what happened. Next week we’re going to have to be strong in every department to get a positive result.

“I think Sam in the four starts he had post-split against tough opponents played his role really well for us. He missed a couple of chances in those games and his primary job is to score goals. His size, strength and willingness to occupy defenders is very important for us as a team, but it’ll do him no harm scoring that goal. It was a very good header and great ball from Gary. He led the line well and he’ll take confidence from that.

“Scott Wright is fine. He just took a kick but it’s nothing. He could have probably stayed on but we were thinking about changing it anyway. I thought he was bright and gave us good moments. We tried him on the right, the left and through the middle to get him to express himself and bring that pace to the team. He can be pleased with his work. No injuries tonight and it’s good to get Gleeson and Devlin back on the pitch.

“They’ll feel the benefit of that and hopefully by the beginning of next week McGinn and Considine will be back with us. Even if we don’t manage to add to the squad, and we’re hopefully we can before Thursday, we’ll be in a better place at the start of next week than we were a few weeks ago.”